New methods of assessing the quality of Scots pine in standing trees and logs throughout northern Scotland have yielded encouraging results in a Forestry Commission research project.
A research paper entitled “Developing methods for assessing Scots pine timber quality” says portable acoustic tools measuring stress wave velocity can be used to assess mechanical properties of Scots pine.
The research found the tools can be used to segregate trees and logs which are likely to produce timber with inferior mechanical properties.
“By removing those logs which had low stress wave velocities it was possible to increase the strength class assigned to the sawn timber from C20 for the entire sample to C22 or even C24,” the report said.
The research also discovered that visual assessment of stem straightness and the height of the lowest dead branch are useful to estimate the proportion of higher quality green sawlog material in a tree and the proportion of falling boards for appearance-grade classes.
“The techniques can be integrated with standard inventory procedures, pre-harvest assessments or log-sorting operations, and have the potential to improve the allocation of Scots pine timber to the most appropriate end products,” said the research report.
The report was written by Forest Research’s Elspeth Macdonald, Dr Thomas Connolly and Professor Barry Gardiner, with Dr John Moore from Edinburgh Napier University’s Centre for Timber Engineering.
To download a PDF of the report visit www.forestry.gov.uk/publications.
